Reviews for Holiday Valley

Read skier and snowboarder-submitted reviews on Holiday Valley that rank the ski resort and mountain town on a scale of one to five stars for attributes such as terrain, nightlife and family friendliness. See how Holiday Valley stacks up in the reviews, on and off the slopes, from skiing and family activities to the après scene. Read up on pros, cons and other comments in reviews left by fellow skiers and riders. Don't forget to submit your own Holiday Valley review! Scroll to the bottom of this page to let other travelers know about your skiing and resort experience.

Reviews for Holiday Valley

Total (3.3)
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77 Total Reviews:
5 Star Reviews (46)
4 Star Reviews (19)
3 Star Reviews (5)
2 Star Reviews (1)
1 Star Reviews (6)
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Most recent
Ben
Holiday Valley is a great place to ski with your family. A great place to learn with their four different beginner trails and three different lifts. The high-speed lifts are so nice to use. And the ultimate white pass is a great value. I love the Glades there as well. The only thing going against it is the vertical of the mountain. Snowmaking system is state of the art and groomers. Do a decent job.
Best place to learn to ski with their beginners area especially with a $25 ticket. Lots of skiable acerage, great snowfall amounts, great snow making system and ultimate season passes give great flexibility.
Don’t manage ice developing during the day well. Wish they would increase quality of cover of open trails early season as opposed to trying to get a higher quantity of trails open.
Hugh Janus
Please see the above "pros and cons".
Wonderful variety of terrain. Something for all levels with easy access for novice skiers. Very good grooming and snow making. Very friendly and helpful staffing. Wide variety of lodging available - both associated with and separate from HV. Short lift
Impossible to discover the lift rate for 70+ folks. Online mentions a price break but you have to call for the actual rate. Anytime I tried to purchase ANY lift tickets on line, the website shunted me over to lodging. Unable to but a lift ticket on lin
Lewis Carran
I haven't been to Holiday Valley n 40 years. Growing up in Cleveland, we thought Ellicottville was n the heart of the Rookies. We (myself n six Brothers) LOVED Holiday Valley. We'd bomb up n down Champagne and Yodler all day long. We learned to become good skiers there. We've all moved on to skiing out West being were all out of the area but pound for pound Holiday Valley stands up to any ski joint.
Everything, terrain, atmosphere, snow making, friendly people.
None
Kathryn
Wonderful hours and availability. Does a great job with snow no matter what weather brings. Great place to learn and prepare for bigger mountains, or just spend all season. Easy access from Buffalo, etc.
Bill Towers
Wish they would create safe and properly built terrain features on a downhill slope instead of the flat surface and dangerous setups currently up.
They make great money for themselves
Higher ups dont seem to care about progressive riders only the family based money grabs
D Robinson
Amazing size, great amount of acreage for East Coast, extremely family friendly, tons of different types of trails/runs, efficiently run resort and night skiing as a bonus
Amazing size, great amount of acreage for East Coast, extremely family friendly, tons of different types of trails/runs, efficiently run resort and night skiing as a bonus
Great Apres around town, but resort itself could add an additional venue for drinks, gathering, and live music.
Anonymous
Holiday Valley is a great place to ski if you live in the Buffalo,. NY area. The resort does a great job at creating a fun place to ski by squeezing as much use as possible out of the limited space and virtical drops they have to work with. What Holiday Valley needs to work on is grooming and enforcing safety. Trails are often sloppy with piles of snow and uneven terrain. On warm days the terrain smooths out but large patches of ice start to become an issue. Enforcement of safety needs to be stepped up as there has been an increase in collisions and close calls due to some skiers/snowboarders bombing down intermediate and beginner slopes at unsafe speeds. These issues detract from what could be a great on piste experience. Holiday Mountain Ops if you are reading this please consider grooming the trails more regularly and if possible shut down some of the high traffic slopes mid day to reset and lay some fresh corduroy. Maybe around 3pm right before day skiing switches to night skiing.
Great use of space and limited vertical drops! The premier place to ski in Western New York!
Trail grooming and lack if safety enforcement.
Ryan
Great resort that's well kept & has nice staff who is helpful when needed! The quality of the snow is bolstered with Western NY Lake Effect in the early season, and the state-of-the-art snowmaking is impressive in the later season (it is worlds apart in quality from the man made snow when I started skiing in the 90s). Holiday Valley which is roughly a mile away from the resort adds to the places available to eat, drink, stay, and there are plenty of shops with a variety of fun things to do after finishing up on the slopes. Would highly recommend for people looking to have a great all around ski trip!
All around lovely mountain & nearby town!
Thomas Rice
SUPER GOOD very FAMILY FRIENDLY!!
Everything except APRÉS SKI is at least average
APRÉS SKI is only fair
Frank Mitskovski
As a season pass holder for several years, I have found the enforcement of rules and safety protocols lacking in the safety patrols. It has been commented on in person and needs some attention by the management. The snow boarding is a problem area. I am an advanced skier.
Excellent snow making and lift operations
A lack of enforcement of uncontrolled skiers and snowboarders.
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